


Only Time

by Rina_san28



Series: Overwatch Fluff Fest [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Dogs, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Post-Recall, because of course, winston is the best and no one can deny it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 09:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17423240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina_san28/pseuds/Rina_san28
Summary: "Time isn't the main thing. It's the only thing." -Miles DavisLena knows better than most just how precious time is. She also knows that she doesn't want to spend a moment longer without Emily.





	Only Time

**Author's Note:**

> Here's installment #2 of this series! This takes place in March of 2076 - I did look everything up and dates, travel time, etc. are all fairly accurate, with allowances for ~more advanced technology~. That puts it at about nine months prior to the events of TL;TF, although you don't need to have read it to understand this one. 
> 
> Have a little happy in the middle of all this mess. Enjoy!

“Agent Tracer, it is time to wake up.”

 

Lena rolled over with a groan. “Athena, luv, it’s-” she cracked one eye open to peer at her nightstand clock, “-8:45 on a Sunday morning.”

 

“That is correct.”

 

“…”

 

“Today is Sunday, the 8th of March, Agent Tracer.”

 

“… _Holy shit!”_ Lena shot upright, fully awake in an instant. “Oh, blast it, thank you luv!”

 

“I am happy to help as always. Your plane is ready to go at any time.”

 

“Thank you thank you thank you!” She quickly tugged on a t-shirt, leggings, flannel (her personal favorite, one lovingly stolen from Jack back in the good old days), and jacket, checked her hair in her reflection in the window, and strapped on her chronal accelerator. “How do I look?”

 

“Very…gay,” Athena said.

 

Lena snorted. “Genji told you to say that, didn’t he?”

 

“Perhaps.”

 

“Eh, it’s true,” she said with a shrug. Satisfied, she grabbed the duffel at the end of her bed and darted out the door. She made it most of the way down the hall at top speed before she turned the corner…and ran straight into a solid wall of human.

 

“Ah, good morning, Lena!” Reinhardt boomed, not at all affected by the collision. “Just in time for breakfast!”

 

“Aw, I’d love to, mate,” Lena said, “but I’ve gotta-”

 

“-Eat some breakfast.” She yelped as Hanzo appeared, silent as always, from behind the old crusader. He took advantage of her surprise to grab her arm and physically drag her into the kitchen, bidding Reinhardt goodbye as he went. “You cannot fly without food in your stomach, Lena.”

 

“I’ve got a granola bar!” she protested, but he simply shoved her into the chair across from Zenyatta, who was practicing his usual morning ritual of ensuring that his husband did not fall asleep and drown in his cereal.

 

“That ain’t enough an’ you know it,” Jesse drawled. He set a plate of pancakes on the table in front of her. “You can’t pull off your master plan if yain’t got food in your belly.”

 

“‘Yain’t’ is not a word, Jesse,” Hanzo said.

 

“Is too, darlin’,” Jesse said. “Y’all’ve never appreciated me as a wordsmith.”

 

“Why are you saying these things with your mouth?”

 

“You know full well that my mouth is very talented.”

 

_“Jesse!”_

 

Lena giggled around a mouthful of pancake as Zenyatta let out a sigh. “With all of their bickering,” the omnic said, “I am surprised they have time for such activities.”

 

Next to him, Genji muttered something in slurred Japanese.

 

“I will not tell your brother that, my heart.” Zenyatta turned his attention to Lena. “Now, sister,” he said. “Do you have all that you need? Change of clothes?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Toothbrush?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“House keys?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Phone?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Chronal accelerator?”

 

“Ye-” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Hey.”

 

Zenyatta tilted his head in his version of a smile. “I was simply ensuring you were paying attention.” He reached out and patted her hand. “And you have her gift, yes?”

 

Lena nodded. “It’s in my pocket,” she said, tapping it to be sure. “Wouldn’t want to forget that!”

 

“If you did, I’d strangle you myself,” Jesse muttered. He took off his apron, allowing the Brit to appreciate his _I’m with stupid_ shirt with an arrow pointing up at his own head. “Fareeha wasn’t nearly as bad as you with the whole ring shoppin’ thing.”

 

“It was stressful!” she said, tossing her hands up. “‘Reeha’s not a fair comparison anyway! That girl is made of stone, I swear.”

 

The cowboy placed his hands on her shoulders and dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. “Relax,” he said, “It’s gonna be fine. She loves you, you love her, an’ the two of you have been together so long that you’re basically universal law.”

 

She wiggled a bit, but obligingly took a deep breath in and let it out when Zenyatta threateningly lifted his Harmony orb in her direction. “Thanks, mate.”

 

“Don’t sweat it, kid. You done?”

 

“Yeah! Tasty as always!”

 

“Go and knock her feet off,” Zenyatta said with a cheerful wave.

 

“Socks, _anata_ ,” Genji murmured, offering a weak wave of his own, “not feet.”

 

“I happen to enjoy my version,” the monk countered, and Lena giggled as she zipped the rest of the way to the tarmac.

 

\-----

 

The flight from Gibraltar to London seemed to take no time at all, and before she knew it, she was giving a jaunty salute to the security guards as she left the little hangar. Outside, as promised, sat Hana in a tiny little coupe.

 

“G’morning!” Lena called, and the streamer’s head shot up.

 

“Morning!” Hana sprinted over to give her a hug. “Ohmigod I’m _so_ excited for you! Are you ready?”

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, tossing her bag in the trunk. “Thanks for picking me up, luv, I know you have a con to get to.”

 

Hana waved a hand dismissively as she started the car. “They don’t really need me till 2,” she said, “this is far more important.”

 

They chatted idly on the way to Lena’s flat about their teammates, video games, _ohmigod Lena look that dog has little booties_ – anything to keep the Brit’s mind occupied. Finally, Hana pulled into a parking space in front of the lobby.

 

“Dude,” she said, patting her on the cheek, “you’ve got this in the bag. Okay?”

 

“Okay!” Lena grinned. “But! If I pull this off, you have to ask Brigitte out.”

 

The other girl’s eyes went wide for a moment, but then she grinned as well and grabbed her phone. “Siri, call Brigitte.”

 

“What are you-”

 

“Hello?” Brigitte’s voice filtered through on speakerphone. “What’s up, Hana?”

 

“Hey Brig!” Hana chirped. “When I get back from con, can I take you to dinner? Like a date?”

 

“Like a – oh, yeah! Yeah that – that would be awesome!” Brigitte said. “I’ll see you when you get back, then?”

 

“Totally! Bye!”

 

“Bye!”

 

The line went dead and Hana looked Lena directly in the eye. “No excuses. Go rock her world.”

 

Lena burst into hysterical giggles. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

 

“I can’t either. Go!” And with that, Lena found herself standing in front of her flat, duffle in hand, watching her friend drive away.

 

“Well,” she muttered to herself, “let’s do this.” She strolled into the lobby and, letting out a sigh at the ever-present out-of-order sign on the elevator doors, veered over to the stairs. _Why did we decide on a 5 th floor flat?_ Thankfully, Overwatch kept her in decent shape, so she was only panting a little bit by the time she reached her flat. After a moment of fumbling, she fished out her keys, slipped them in the lock, and swung open the door. “Poppet!” she called. “Mummy’s home!”

 

_Skitter skitter THUD skitter THUD skitter-_

 

Poppet barreled around the corner, all legs with a dopey look on her face. The greyhound threw herself at Lena, who knelt just in time to catch the blow. She giggled as the dog covered her face in kisses, wiggling frantically.

 

“Hullo, baby!” Lena said, patting Poppet’s sides affectionately. Poppet responded by flopping to the ground and rolling onto her back. “Oh, of course you get scritches! Mummy missed you so much! Yes, she did!” She glanced over at the clock and placed one last kiss on the dog’s nose. “I’ve got to put your mam’s birthday things together, but we’ll go for a run tonight, ‘kay, Pop?” Poppet barked. “Great!”

 

The next few hours were a whirlwind of activity. Mrs. McKenna down the hall brought a cake, as promised (“It would really spoil the surprise if you set the fire alarm off again, dear.” “One time! It was one time!”) and old Mr. Rhydderch from downstairs brought up the box of decorations she’d bought and shipped the previous week (“Are ye sure ye don’t need help wi’ te ladder, Lena?” “No, I’ve got it! You don’t need a third knee replacement.”). By 5:30, she’d cleaned the whole flat, hung the streamers, taken the dog out (twice), put dinner in the oven, done the laundry, and changed clothes (four times), all in a fit of pure nervous energy. All that was left was for Emily to come home.

 

Lena smoothed her button-down, the one with rockets on it that Emily had given her for Christmas, and patted her trouser pocket for the thirtieth time to make sure the ring box was there. Poppet whined from where she was curled up on the sofa.

 

“Oh! Hiding! Good plan!” Lena said. She gave the dog a pat, then vaulted over the kitchen counter, landing in a crouch behind it right as the door opened.

 

“Hi! How’s Mam’s baby today?” she heard Emily coo as Poppet put on an excellent show of being neglected all day. “Hang on, let me take off my coat and then we’ll have some birthday snuggles!”

 

 _Perfect_.

 

“Mind if I join?” Lena chirped, popping up from her hiding place. “I like snuggles!”

 

Emily stared at her, blinked, and then grinned wildly, sprinting across the room and scooping Lena up in an embrace. “ _Fy duw_ , I thought you were on a mission! What’re you doing here?”

 

Lena cackled. “I lied!” She took her girlfriend’s face in both hands and kissed her, a little messy due to the angle. “Happy birthday, m’love.”

 

“You sneaky little shit!” Emily said, finally setting her back on her own two feet, if only to steal a few more kisses. “You did all this?”

 

“I had help,” she said, “but I’ve been working on this for _months_ , you have no idea-”

 

“When did you get here?”

 

“Flew myself over, landed at about 12:30, and had Hana – you remember Hana, the streamer-”

 

“Yeah! The bunny one-”

 

“Yeah! Hana picked me up and drove me over here, so…like, four-and-a-half-ish hours ago, maybe?”

 

“I can’t believe it!” Emily said, giving her one last squeeze before going back to remove her coat and shoes. “Darling, I missed you so much!”

 

“I missed you, too,” Lena said. “Being without you is always…” She gulped. _This is it_. “It’s really hard.”

 

Emily’s face softened, and she reached out to Lena as she walked over. “It is,” she said, “but you’re doing wonderful things, and I am so, so proud of you.” She pressed her hand to the Brit’s cheek, and Lena turned her head to kiss the palm.

 

“I love you so much, Em,” she said. She stood a little straighter, then took Emily’s hand in her own. “I’ve loved you for the past ten years. We’ve been through so much together – good, bad, and everything in between – and these past few months away from you have made me realize that I never want to go through those things without you again. So, I came to celebrate your birthday, but I also wanted to ask you a question.” She took out the ring box, opened it, and got down on one knee, keeping her eyes on Emily’s. “Marry me?”

 

“Oh my – yes, _le wrth gwrs,_ Lena-” Emily pulled her to her feet and kissed her, long and deep.

 

Lena smiled into it, then broke away and held up the box again. “Want to put it on?”

 

“Do I ever!” Emily said, wiping tears off both of their faces. Lena slipped the ring on her finger, admiring how well the dainty little gold and diamond band complimented her girlfriend – no, her _fiancée_. “Oh,” she breathed, “love, it’s perfect.”

 

“I aim to please,” Lena joked. She giggled Poppet bounced around the room, clearly excited by whatever her humans were doing. “You’re not gonna be a bastard baby anymore, Pop!”

 

“Lena – oh! Hold on!” She frowned in confusion as Emily ran into the kitchen. “Oh my god, did Winston know you were doing this?”

 

“Course he did, babe, I tell him every – oh my god.” From one of the upper shelves that Lena couldn’t reach, Emily had produced another little box. “Emily, were you gonna propose?”

 

“Yes!” She tossed her arms up in the air. “I had it all planned out! Poppet and I were gonna fly out to Gibraltar next week-”

 

“You’re havin’ me on!”

 

“I’m not!” Emily laughed. “I took off two weeks from work for it, too! Winston said he’d send you out on recon or errands or something and when you came back, I was gonna be in your room all ready to go!”

 

“Holy _shit_ , Em, we’ve gotta call him like right now,” Lena said, “we are having _words_.”

 

“I’m assuming your answer’s a yes, then?” Emily asked.

 

“Oh yeah, definitely!” Lena said. Emily pulled out the other ring and slipped it on Lena’s finger. It, like her own, was a simple gold band, though it had engravings instead of a line of gems – perfect for her line of work. “Aw, Em, it’s lovely!”

 

“I got insurance,” Emily said, “so if you lose it on a mission, we can replace it.”

 

“I’ll do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Lena promised. She pulled Emily down for another kiss. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

\-----

 

“Winston,” Athena said, “you have an incoming video call from Agent Tracer.”

 

He looked up from his dinner. “That didn’t take long.”

 

“Put it on the big screen, Athena,” Jesse called, “we all want in on this.” It was only fair, Winston figured; almost the entirety of the recalled Overwatch was piled into the common room, pizza boxes on every available surface, for that very reason.

 

“Of course. Just a moment.” The TV flicked on, showing a _call connecting_ screen before it was suddenly filled with two familiar faces.

 

“Winston!” Emily yelled as the aforementioned gorilla began to laugh. “ _Diawl bach, ti’n llawn cachu_ – you were playing both sides!”

 

Winston shrugged, unrepentant. “I was only ensuring the maximum probability of success. It’s my job, as a scientist.”

 

“Cut to the chase, folks, are y’all engaged or not?” Jesse cut in.

 

“Duh, of course we are!” Lena said, holding up her hand.

 

“Wait,” Lúcio said with a confused frown on his face, “didn’t you get her a ring?”

 

“She did, and I love it,” Emily said, holding up her own hand, “but I had one for her, too, because I had this whole grand scheme planned out with Winston that I was going to fly down and surprise her!”

 

“That was the plan, can confirm,” Brigitte said from her perch on the sectional. “I was signed on to pick her up.”

 

“I even went with Jesse to the shop-” Emily continued, but Lena squawked in betrayal.

 

“Jesse McCree! You knew?” she gasped. “You helped pick out both of the rings and didn’t tell? You little bastard!”

 

“Hey now, let’s not be hasty!” he said, setting his pizza down. “I just wanted the best for you folks, an’ I couldn’t just say ‘no’, now could I?”

 

“It could have been worse,” Zenyatta said, “one of you could have asked Genji.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“How many of you knew about this?”

 

Approximately 90% of the room raised their hands, with Lúcio and Reinhardt being the odd ones out.

 

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Reinhardt asked.

 

Torbjörn stared at him. “You can’t keep a secret to save your damn life and you want to know why we didn’t tell you about a surprise proposal.”

 

“He has a point,” Fareeha said.

 

“His hair hides it,” Lena responded automatically. “Emily can still come to base, right?”

 

“Of course she can!” Winston said. “It’ll give you some time to start planning.”

 

Jesse snickered. “So that’s what they’re callin’ it these days.” Hanzo whacked him lightly, though he couldn’t hide his own giggles.

 

“We can also discuss Emily staying on base permanently, if she’s interested,” the scientist continued, ignoring the children next to him. “We could always use an archivist! Under the radar, that is.”

 

“There ya go, Em,” Lena cheered, “use that degree!”

 

Emily grinned. “I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind the occasional Gibraltar holiday,” she said. “If you wouldn’t mind me sticking around, of course I’ll come.”

 

“Excellent. But most importantly,” Winston smiled warmly, “congratulations, you two. We’re all very happy for you.”

 

“Aw, thanks big guy,” Lena said. “Dinner’s ready, so we’ve gotta scoot, but we love you!”

 

“Love you, too, kid,” Jesse said, “now git!” Athena obligingly cut off the call.

 

Angela laughed. “Winston, you little sneak!”

 

He shrugged again. “I do what I have to, Doctor, and that was it. Now, I believe there’s cake?”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Translations:**  
>  Japanese:  
> anata - an endearment, like dear or sweetheart  
> Welsh:  
> Fy duw - my god  
> le wrth gwrs - yes of course  
> Diawl bach - little devil  
> ti’n llawn cachu - you're full of shit  
> If there are any errors in these translations, let me know and I'll fix them. I only know English, ASL, and some Irish, and neither of the latter two appear here. 
> 
> **Writing Notes:**  
>  1) As I said earlier, I checked the calendar for 2076 and March 8th is on a Sunday. Since Emily doesn't have a canon birthday, I just picked something. This date also works as an engagement date given the timeline established in TL;TF, which is set in December and states that from the events of the story, Lena and Emily are getting married the next month.  
> 2) Hana, as a popular streamer, would likely be attending cons and such. Her appearing in public like that would also serve to throw off suspicions of her being involved in illegal Overwatch activity because _obviously_ she's very busy working!  
> 3) I saw a headcanon somewhere that Lena fosters/adopts retired racing greyhounds and loved it - enter Poppet. In my head, she got her name when Emily and Lena couldn't decide on one, so just referred to her with nicknames for about a week before it just...stuck. It does actually happen, can confirm, because it just happened with me and Baby, my 8-pound, 24-string lever harp.  
> 4) I love me some double proposals. This is the third proposal I've written and the second double proposal. I just think they're hilarious.  
> 5) Again, no real canon things for Emily, so I made her Welsh, mainly because I love the smashed-together look that the British Isles languages have and wanted one in there.  
> 6) I've also made Emily an archivist. Why? Because I'm a curator and archivist and wanted representation. Also, it's a cool and surprisingly flexible job. Be cool, guys, work in a museum.  
> 7) Jesse McCree seems to take on a big-brotherly kind of role, and I really do think that suits him. Give that man a puppy or something, he needs to care for people. His accent is pretty fun and personally I hear it well in my head, but that might be because I'm from Farmvilleland, Ohio. Hmm.  
> 8) Zenyatta loves his husband very much. Therefore, he shits on him at every opportunity, as you do in a good relationship.  
> 9) This is the third fic in a row where there's been cake. I think it's a sign that I need some.  
> 10) As of the posting of this fic, people with UK citizenships can live and work in Gibraltar without the normal procedures for moving to another country because Gibraltar is technically still a British territory. Emily would be able to make the switch there fairly comfortably. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I can be found on Tumblr as rina-san28 and on Battle.net as rinasan28. I'm currently taking fic requests as well, so feel free to hit me up with stuff!


End file.
